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FAA On The Dollars And Sense Of Giving Rides...

It's becoming the most despised piece of proposed legislation ever to come from the FAA for some and now it's being blamed for the imminent demise of barnstorming. In case you didn't know, barnstorming is alive and threatened by the proposed National Air Tour Safety Standards, according to the folks who organized last summer's popular National Air Tour. In an impassioned letter to aviation enthusiasts, Greg Herrick, president of the Aviation Foundation of America (AFA), said the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), if adopted, could turn dozens of flyable vintage aircraft into museum pieces because owners won't be able to subsidize their upkeep by charging for rides. Herrick said at least four aircraft on the National Air Tour, which re-created an annual publicity tour sponsored by Ford in the 1930s, were used to fly paying customers. "If the FAA adopts this new proposed rule, these types of rides will become a thing of the past," he wrote. The AFA joins a long list of opponents to the NPRM, which was issued in late October. The FAA says the NPRM standardizes rules and operations for sightseeing businesses and charters that fly thousands of passengers every year over areas like the Hawaiian volcanoes and the Grand Canyon. As Business AVflash reported earlier, those in the sightseeing business have been critical of the proposed rules. Concerns have also been raised about the impact on so-called charity flights, in which volunteer pilots carry passengers to raise money for non-profit groups and by organizations that arrange for private aircraft to carry sick people to medical appointments.

Question of the Week

Picture of the Week

As aviation photos go, this was the best this week but there are some great beauty shots when you click through. In the meantime, congratulations to Daniel Gillette for this very nice photo he calls Sunset Pitch-Out. The photo is copyrighted by Gillette.